A Sesame Street Christmas Carol
A Sesame Street Christmas Carol is a direct-to-video Sesame Street special, released to home video in 2006. Oscar the Grouch stars in the Ebenezer Scrooge role for a Sesame Street version of the classic novel by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol was previously adapted by the Muppets in the 1992 film The Muppet Christmas Carol, and has been spoofed in Muppet Magazine, [[The Sesame Street Storytime Calendar 1982|a Sesame Street calendar]], and the 1978 TV special, A Special Sesame Street Christmas, as well as other books and albums. The three ghosts in the special are computer animated by Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio. The special received its broadcast premiere on Sprout On Demand from November 17-23, 2006.archived link Plot Summary As released on DVD, the story is divided into five chapters. Ghost-o-Gram The story opens on a quiet, snow-covered Christmas Eve with a voice-over narration about Sesame Street and what a wonderful place it is at Christmas time. As the narrator talks, clips from past Sesame Street Christmas specials are shown (the opening from Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!, and a scene from Elmo Saves Christmas). A Muppet named Joe Marley of "Scaredy-Pants Delivery Service" comes down the street to deliver a "ghost-o-gram" to Oscar. Rhubarb the Grouch The ghost-o-gram consists of an old, empty can of baked beans and a card on which is written a rhyme that Oscar must read aloud to summon Rhubarb, the Grouch ghost of Christmas Past. Rhubarb shows Oscar some old home movies of Christmases past. The first is The Gift of the Magi starring Bert and Ernie (showing the pair's subplot from Christmas Eve on Sesame Street). The next home movie features Big Bird from Elmo Saves Christmas singing "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Christmas Carole Oscar soon finds himself visited by Christmas Carole, the perky Ghost of Christmas Present whose body and attire are shaped like a Christmas tree. Carole shows Oscar the glory of Christmas in the now and that Christmas is more than just decorations and Christmas trees. She shows four clips representing the present, including Elmo and Santa Claus from Elmo's World: Happy Holidays; Elmo and Lightning singing "Every Day Can't Be Christmas" from Elmo Saves Christmas; Elmo talking with kids about how they celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanzaa from Elmo's World: Happy Holidays; and "Keep Christmas with You" from Elmo Saves Christmas. i-Sam The final ghost to arrive is the ghost of Christmas Future in the form of a futuristic robot named Sam. He shows an animated short about what Christmas will be like in the future—including houses that decorate themselves and Christmas dinners consumed in the form of "delicious, chewable space capsules" while floating in zero gravity. Christmas Morning The story ends on Christmas morning, when a Muppet who looks just like Joe Marley awakens Oscar to give him a sticky ball of used wrapping paper as a Christmas present. When Oscar recognized the visitor as "Joe the Scaredy-Pants guy," the visitor responds "No, I'm little Joey Dickens, you know, from Brooklyn." In the end, Oscar finds several things to enjoy about Christmas Day, including sticky balls of used wrapping paper, waiting for the "rotten snow" to turn the "mushy and gray," and "best of all, tomorrow is the day after Christmas, and this will all be over." Features * Includes A Sesame Street Christmas Carol CD Sampler sold exclusively at Toys R Us stores. Credits *Directed by: Victor DiNapoli *Written by: Rickey Boyd *Co-Producer: Kevin Clash *Starring: **Caroll Spinney as Oscar **Joey Mazzarino as Joe Marley **with Matt Vogel, Jim Martin *Featuring the Voices of: **Tim Curry as Narrator **Rickey Boyd as Rhubarb the Grouch **Kristin Chenoweth as Carole **Kevin Clash as i-SAM *Music by: Bill Lacey, Loren Toolajian, Michael Ungar (SandBlast Productions) *Production Designer: Bob Phillips *Animation and Special Effects by: Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio *Animation Director: Rickey Boyd *Senior Muppet Consultant: Kevin Clash *Jim Henson's New York Puppet Workshop: Jason Weber, Rollie Krewson, Michelle Hickey, Heather Asch, Jane Pien, Erin Black, David Roberts *Senior Graphic Designer: Mike Pantuso *Graphic Designer: Pete Ortiz *Sound Effects: Dick Maitland *"Holidays of the Future" **Produced by Magnetic Dreams Animation Studio **Animation by Galen Fott (Grundoon Studios) *Control Room PA: Mindy Fila *Technical Director: Tom Guadarrama *Audio Engineer: Blake Norton *Cameras: Frank Biondo, Shaun Harkins, Aaron Medick *For the Jim Henson Company: Jill Colley, Joey Roddy *Vice President of Education and Research: Rosemarie T. Truglio, Ph.D. *Curriculum Specialist: Autumn Zitani Stefano, M.A. *Taped at Kaufman Astoria Studios Other releases Image:Asesamestreetchristmascarolelmosaveschristmas.jpg| 2008, United Kingdom Abbey Home Media Asesamestreetchristmascarolasianvcd.jpg| cat. no 616599 Sources __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:Sesame Street Direct-to-Video Category:Sesame Street Video Category:Christmas Video Category:Christmas Productions